2019 Proposal Guidelines

Proposals for the 2019 ALA Conference will be accepted until December 15, 2018. Before submitting, please carefully read the instructions below. To review this year's conference theme, click here.

The maximum length for all abstracts is 2000 characters, spaces included.

Individual Papers

Abstracts of individual papers that are not already part of a panel, roundtable, or seminar proposal may be submitted by following the link below. Individual papers will be accepted according to their quality and fit with other individual paper submissions.

Panels, Roundtables, and Seminars

Please read the instructions below for multi-presentation proposals.

Panel

We strongly encourage full panel submissions, with 3-5 speakers, possibly including a discussant. We recommend that panels bring together scholars from multiple institutions. The person submitting the panel must collect abstracts and personal information from all speakers and enter it into the Panel submission form.

Roundtable

Roundtables are convened by members to discuss recent developments in the field or matters pertaining to the profession, including but not limited to theoretical innovations, recent publications, and professional development concerns. A roundtable will consist of a chair, who organizes the roundtable, and no less than four and no more than six presenters. To submit a proposal for a roundtable, please follow the instructions in the Roundtable submission form.

Seminar

An ALA seminar consists of 2-3 panels on a theme or cluster of related themes. The panels will be held once a day over 2-3 days. A seminar can be headed by one or two persons. Seminar leaders must define the seminar issue, recruit participants, create panels, and provide all the information needed in the Seminar submission form. To enhance the intellectual diversity of presentations, we strongly encourage proposals that bring together scholars from multiple institutions. While seminar leaders normally serve as panel chairs, a seminar leader who is presenting a paper cannot chair more than one panel of the seminar. Pre-circulation of papers among seminar participants is strongly encouraged. All seminar participants are expected to attend all panels in the seminar.